University of Virginia Library

ACT III.

SCENE I.

—A SQUARE BEFORE THE PALACE.
Trumpets sounding a dead march. Lysimachus led prisoner, Parisatis, Eumenes, Perdiccas, and Guards.
Par.
Stay, my Lysimachus! a moment stay!
Oh, whither art thou going?—Hold a moment!
Unkind! thou know'st my life was wrapt in thine,
Why would'st thou then to worse than death expose me?

Lysi.
Oh, may'st thou live in joys without allay!
Grant it, ye gods! a better fortune waits thee;
Live and enjoy it—'tis my dying wish;
While to the grave the lost Lysimachus
Alone retires, and bids the world adieu.

Pari.
Even in that grave will Parisatis join thee;
Yes, cruel man! not death itself shall part us;
A mother's pow'r, a sister's soft'ning tears,
With all the fury of a tyrant's frown,
Shall not compel me to outlive thy loss.

Lysi.
Were I to live till nature's self decay'd,
This wond'rous waste of unexampled love
I never could repay—Oh, Parisatis!
Thy charms might fire a coward into courage;
How must they act then on a soul like mine?
Defenceless and unarm'd, I fight for thee,
And may, perhaps, compel th'astonish'd world,
And force the king, to own that I deserve thee.
Eumenes, take the princess to thy charge:
Away, Perdiccas, all my soul's on fire.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

—A PAVILION.
Enter Roxana and Cassander.
Roxa.
Deserted! saidst thou? for a girl abandon'd!
A puny girl, made up of watry elements!
Shall she embrace the god of my desires,
And triumph in the heart Roxana claims?
If I forget it, may'st thou, Jove, deprive me
Of vengeance, make me the most wretched thing
On earth, while living, and when dead, the lowest
And blackest of the fiends!

Cass.
Oh, nobly said!
Just is the vengeance which inflames your soul;
Your wrongs demand it—but let reason govern;
This wild rage, else, may disappoint your aims.

Roxa.
Away, away, and give a whirlwind room;
Pride, indignation, fury, and contempt,
War in my breast, and torture me to madness!

Cass.
Oh, think not I would check your boldest flights;
No—I approve 'em, and will aid your vengeance.
But, princess, let us chuse the safest course,
Or we may give our foes new cause of triumph,
Should they discover, and prevent our purpose.

Roxa.
Fear not, Cassander; nothing shall prevent it;
Roxana dooms him, and her voice is fate.
My soul, from childhood, has aspir'd to empire;
In early non-age I was us'd to reign
Among my she-companions: I despis'd
The trifling arts, and little wiles of women,
And taught 'em, with an Amazonian spirit,
To wind the steed, to chase the foaming boar,
And conquer man, the lawless, charter'd savage.

Cass.
Her words, her looks, her every motion fires me!

Roxa.
But when I heard of Alexander's fame,
How, with a handful, he had vanquish'd millions,
Spoil'd all the East, and captive held our queens;
While, like a god, unconquer'd by their charms,
With heavenly pity he assuag'd their woes,
Dry'd up their tears, and sooth'd them into peace;
I hung attentive on my father's lips,
And wish'd him tell the wond'rous tale again.
No longer pleasing were my former sports;
Love had its turn, and all the woman reign'd.
Involuntary sighs heav'd in my breast,
And glowing blushes crimson'd on my cheek;
Ev'n in my slumbers I have often mourn'd
In plaintive sounds, and murmur'd Alexander.

Cass.
Curse on his name!—she doats upon him still.

Roxa.
At length this conqueror to Zogdia came,
And, cover'd o'er with laurels, storm'd the city:
But, Oh, Cassander! where shall I find words
To paint the extatic transports of my soul!
When, midst a circle of unrivall'd beauties,
I saw myself distinguish'd by the hero?
With artless rapture I receiv'd his vows,
The warmest, sure, that ever lover breath'd,
Of fervent love, and everlasting truth.

Cass.
And need you then be told, those times are past?
Statira now engrosses all his thoughts:
The Persian queen, without a rival, reigns
Sole mistress of his heart—nor can thy charms,
The brightest, sure, that ever woman boasted,
Nor all his vows of everlasting love,
Secure Roxana from disdain and insult.

Roxa.
Oh, thou hast rous'd the lion in my soul!
Ha! shall the daughter of Darius hold him?
No, 'tis resolv'd; I will resume my sphere,
Or, falling, spread a general ruin round me.
Roxana and Statira; they are names
That must for ever jar, like clashing clouds,
When they encounter, thunders must ensue.

Cass.
Behold, she comes, in all the pomp of sorrow,
Determin'd to fulfil her solemn vow!

[They retire.
Roxa.
Away, and let us mark th'important scene,

Enter Sysigambis and Statira.
Sysi.
Oh, my Statira, how has passion chang'd thee!
Think, in the rage of disappointed love,
If treated thus, and hurried to extremes,
What Alexander may denounce against us;
Against the poor remains of lost Darius.

Stat.
Oh, fear not that! I know he will be kind,
For my sake kind, to you and Parisatis.
Tell him, I rail'd not at his falshood to me,
But with my parting breath spoke kindly of him;
Tell him, I wept at our divided loves,
And sighing sent a last forgiveness to him.

Sysi.
No, I can ne'er again presume to meet him,
Never approach the much-wrong'd Alexander,
If thou refuse to see him—Oh, Statira!
Thy aged mother, and thy weeping country,
Claim thy regard, and challenge thy compassion:
Hear us, my child, and lift us from despair.

Stat.
Thus low, I cast me at your royal feet,
To bathe them with my tears; or, if you please,
I'll let out life, and wash 'em with my blood.
But, I conjure you, not to rack my soul,
Nor hurry my wild thoughts to perfect madness:
Should now Darius' awful ghost appear,
And you, my mother, stand beseeching by,
I would persist to death, and keep my vow.

Roxa.
This fortitude of soul compels my wonder.

Sysi.
Hence, from my sight! ungrateful wretch, begone!
And hide thee where bright virtue never shone;
For, in the sight of Heaven, I here renounce,
And cast thee off an alien to my blood.
[Exit Sysi.

Exit Cassander, and Roxana comes forward.
Roxa.
Forgive, great queen, th'intrusion of a stranger;
With grief Roxana sees Statira weep;
I've heard, and much applaud your fix'd resolve,
To quit the world for Alexander's sake;
And yet I fear, so greatly he adores you,
That he will rather chuse to die of sorrow,
Than live for the despis'd Roxana's charms.

Stat.
Spare, Madam, spare your counterfeited fears;
You know your beauty, and have prov'd its pow'r;
Tho' humbly born, have you not captive held,
In love's soft chains, the conqu'ror of the world?
Away to libertines, and boast thy conquest;
A shameful conquest!—In his hours of riot,
When wine prevail'd, and virtue lost its influence,
Then, only then, Roxana could surprise
My Alexander's heart.

Roxa.
Affected girl,
To some romantic grove's sequester'd gloom,
Thy sickly virtue wou'd, it seems, retire,
To shun the triumphs of a favour'd rival.
In vain thou fliest—for there, ev'n there I'll haunt thee;
Plague thee all day, and torture thee all night:
There shalt thou learn, in what extatic joys
Roxana revels with the first of men;
And, as thou hear'st the rapt'rous scene recited,
With frantic jealousy thou'lt madly curse
Thy own weak charms, that could not fix the rover.

Stat.
How weak is woman! at the storm she shrinks,
Dreads the drawn sword, and trembles at the thunder;
Yet, when strong jealousy inflames her soul,
The sword may glitter, and the tempest roar,
She scorns the danger, and provokes her fate.
Rival, I thank thee—Thou hast fir'd my soul,
And rais'd a storm beyond thy pow'r to lay;
Soon shalt thou tremble at the dire effects,
And curse, too late, the folly that undid thee.

Roxa.
Sure the disdain'd Statira dares not mean it.

Stat.
By all my hopes of happiness I dare:
And know, proud woman, what a mother's threats,
A sister's sighs, and Alexander's tears,
Could not effect, thy rival rage has done.
I'll see the king, in spite of all I swore,
Though curs'd, that thou may'st never see him more.

Enter Alexander, Hephestion, Clytus, Polyperchon, Perdiccas, Thessalus, Eumenes, and Guards.
Alex.
Oh, my Statira! thou relentless fair!
Turn thine eyes on me—I would talk to them.
What shall I say to work upon thy soul?
What words, what looks, can melt thee to forgiveness?

Stat.
Talk of Roxana, and the conquer'd Indies,
Thy great adventures, thy successful love,
And I will listen to the rapt'rous tale;
But rather shun me, shun a desperate wretch,
Resign'd to sorrow, and eternal woe.

Alex.
Oh, I could die, with transport, die before thee;
Would'st thou but, as I lay convuls'd in death,
Cast a kind look, or drop a tender tear;—
Say but, 'twas pity one so fam'd in arms,
One who has 'scap'd a thousand deaths in battle,
For the first fault should fall a wretched victim
To jealous anger, and offended love.

Rox.
Am I then fall'n so low in thy esteem,
That for another thou wouldst rather die,
Than live for me?—How am I alter'd, tell me,
Since last at Sufa, with repeated oaths,
You swore the conquest of the world afforded
Less joy, less glory, than Roxana's love?

Alex.
Take, take that conquer'd world, dispose of crowns,
And canton ont the empires of the globe;
But leave me, Madam, with repentant tears,
And undissembled sorrows, to atone
The wrongs I've offer'd to this injur'd excellence.

Roxa.
Yes, I will go, ungrateful as thou art!
Bane to my life, and murd'rer of my peace,
I will be gone; this last disdain has cur'd me—
But have a care—I warn you not to trust me;
Or, by the gods, that witness to thy perjuries,
I'll raise a fire that shall consume you both,
Tho' I partake the ruin.
[Exit Roxana.

Stat.
Alexander!—Oh, is it possible?
Immortal gods! can guilt appear so lovely?
Yet, yet I pardon, I forgive thee all.

Alex.
Forgive me all! Oh, catch the heavenly sounds,
Catch 'em, ye winds, and, as you fly, disperse
The rapt'rous tidings through the extended world,
That all may share in Alexander's joy!

Stat.
Yes, dear deceiver, I forgive thee all,
But longer dare not hear thy charming tongue;
For while I hear thee, my resolves give way:
Be therefore quick, and take thy last farewel;
Farewel, my love—Eternally farewel!

Alex.
Go then, inhuman, triumph in my pains,
Feed on the pangs that rend this wretched heart;
For now 'tis plain you never lov'd.—Statira!—
Oh, I could sound that charming, cruel name,
Till the tir'd echo faint with repetition;
Till all the breathless groves, and quiet myrtles,
Shook with my sighs, as if a tempest bow'd 'em;
Ever Statira, nothing but Statira!

Stat.
Such were his looks, so melting was his voice,
Such were his sighs, and his deluding vows,
When his soft whispers trembled through my ears,
And told the story of my utter ruin.
Gods! if I stay, I shall again believe.
Farewel, thou greatest pleasure, greatest pain!

Alex.
I charge ye, stay her; stay her;—by the Gods,—
Oh, my Statira!— (Kneels.)

I swear, my queen, I'll not out-live our parting:
My soul grows still as death.—Say, wilt thou pardon;—
'Tis all I ask;—wilt thou forgive the transports
Of a deep-wounded heart, and all is well?

Stat.
Rise; and may Heav'n forgive you, like Statira!

Alex.
You are too gracious—Clytus, bear me hence.—
When I am laid i'th'earth, yield her the world.—
There's something here, that heaves as cold as ice,
That stops my breath.—Farewel, farewel for ever!

Stat.
Hold off, and let me run into his arms:
My life, my love, my lord, my Alexander!
If thy Statira's love can give thee joy,
Revive, and be immortal as the gods.

Alex.
My flutt'ring heart, tumultuous with its bliss,
Would leap into thy bosom; 'tis too much.
Oh, let me press thee in my eager arms,
And strain thee hard to my transported breast!

Stat.
But shall Roxana—

Alex.
Let her not be nam'd.
Oh, how shall I repay you for this goodness?
And you, my fellow warriors, who could grieve
For your lost king? But talk of griefs no more;
The banquet waits, and I invite you all;
My equals in the throne, as in the grave,
Without distinction come, and share my joys.

Clyt.
Excuse me, Sir, if I for once am absent.

Alex.
Excuse thee, Clytus! None shall be excus'd.
All revel out the day, 'tis my command;
Gay as the Persian god, ourself will stand,
With a crown'd goblet in our lifted hand;
Young Ammon and Statira shall go round,
While antic measures beat the burthen'd ground,
And to the vaulted skies our trumpets clangors sound.

[Exeunt.